Tamil Director Mohan G has been arrested for falsely claiming that “impotence-causing pills” had been mixed into the panchamirtham (prasadam/ritual food offering) served at the famed Palani Dhandayuthapani Swamy temple in Dindigul district. He was arrested by police on September 24.
The director, who gained popularity for his movies propagating caste-pride and for being anti-Dalit, made the false statement in an interview while reacting to the ongoing Tirupati temple laddu controversy.
In the interview, Mohan G first speaks in support of the allegations that the Tirupati temple laddus contain animal fat. He then goes on to claim that similar incidents have occurred in Tamil Nadu. “The media did not report this. But I came to know that male impotency-causing pills were mixed in the panchamirtham of a certain temple we consider extremely important. They made sure the news never came out. The panchamirtham was completely destroyed and the facts were twisted when the case was registered.”
At this point, the interviewer asks him if he is referring to the Palani temple for which Mohan G replies that he can’t say anything without evidence. The interviewer then says that an issue had arisen some time back regarding the Palani temple’s panchamirtham, but that it had been regarding its failure to meet the required standards during quality checks.
In response, Mohan G claims that the the precise reason for the panchamirtham not meeting standards was never revealed and that while authorities had said that it was simply a matter of quality, temple staff had “told” him that “male impotency-causing pills had been mixed in it to harm Hindus.”
It must be understood that it is unclear what sort of “pills” Mohan G is referring to or what the scientific basis to his claims are. Hormone or libido-altering medication do not work in the manner the director alleges.
In established medicine, anti-androgen treatments are a form of hormone therapy often used to treat prostate cancer, alongside radiation, as Science Direct explains. According to the National Cancer Institute in the US, “Hormone therapies, which are treatments that decrease androgen levels or block androgen action, can inhibit the growth of such prostate cancers, which are therefore called castration sensitive, androgen dependent, or androgen sensitive.” Methods of administering androgen-inhibitors, either orally or intravenously, need specific dosages, medical oversight and have varying durations of consumption to be effective.
Mohan G’s claims are similar to those made repeatedly by Hindu right-wing groups in the past across India, including in Coimbatore. Various Sangh Parivar groups have in the past, claimed that Muslim-owned biriyani restaurants mixed birth-control pills in the food served to Hindus. The fact-checking news site Alt News has previously proved that the images circulated as “evidence” and claims themselves are fake. Further, Alt News had also highlighted at the time how the exact same photos had been attributed to multiple Muslim-owned eateries in Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Such a claim resurfaced recently in Coimbatore again, in 2023. Police debunked the claim and a cyber crime case was registered against the individuals who made the allegations on social media.
Read: 'Biriyani causes infertility': The casteist, communal strategy of the right wing in TN
Mohan G’s Draupathi (2020) and Rudra Thandavam (2021) represent a genre of dominant caste-pride films that has been witnessing a resurgence in recent Tamil cinema. His films are also critical of social justice measures such as the Protection of Civil Rights (PCR) Act and the Prevention of Atrocities against Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Also read: Rudra Thandavam: New age propaganda films promoting caste pride in Tamil cinema